Have you ever wondered what today' buyer is looking for?  It is very difficult for even top real estate professionals to see the trend of what kind of property today's buyer is looking for.  Thanks to the tools designed into our company website, anyone can quickly see the most viewed properties.

In the sidebar to the right, look to the right of this blog entry, you will see a "Top Property".  If you click on the "?" beside the title, you can view the top 100 properties over the last 30 days on our website.  Enjoy another one of the many great tools on our website as we give you insight into the local real estate market.

Weekly Residential Market Report
Week Ending August 28, 2009

BRIEF ANALYSIS
The market slowed just slightly this week as the number of new listings coming onto the market was down 14% and the number of properties coming off the market as Under Contract was down 24%. 

Week over week information can certainly be helpful in staying on top of the market pulse, but I also like to look at a larger picture.  So, comparing August 2009 to August 2008, we see that market activity in 2009 is far outpacing that of 2008.  New Listings are up 67%, Under Contracts are up 34% while Sold properties are almost unchanged.

Here are the numbers for this week:



Current Properties Available on the Market: 913
Current Properties Under Contract/Pending:154

Average Listings During A Week in 2009: 36
Average Under Contract A Week in 2009: 18
Average Sold A Week in 2009: 16

The Rockingham County Board of Supervisors introduced the Meals Tax back onto its agenda last night.  After much public dismay last year, the board has decided to give it a second chance.

The Daily News Record reports "If certified by the judge and approved by voters in November, county officials say the meals tax will raise an estimated $600,000 needed for operations at Cub Run Elementary, River Bend Elementary and East Rockingham High schools". 

What does this mean for real estate?
The county argues that this tax will help to alleviate its reliance on revenues from real estate taxes.  The meals tax will create income from visitors to our area including those vacationing at Massauntten and parents visiting their children at one of three local colleges. 

"There were a lot of people who didn't understand the meals tax the last time around," said Board Chairman Fred Eberly. "This is a way to avoid increases in property and real estate taxes and have people from out of town pay for it instead." - Daily News Record

It is yet to be seen if the meals tax will indeed relieve the county's reliance on local property owners, but anything to reduce the cost of owning a home in our area is a good thing. 

What do you think?